it is one of the stories that I never get tired. It was in the 50s and Mercedes needed transportation for their silver arrows . We talked about the impressive W196 silver arrows as 300 SLR where the great Fangio and Stirling Moss dominated the Formula 1 season. Not worth a transport truck either. They needed a fast machine that could save if Mercedes had to make a trip to the factory. Moreover, transport should be up to the best car of the moment. With you, the Mercedes Renntransporter .
Blue Wonder: A sole machine
It was manufactured in 1955 and transported the cars of Fangio and Stirling Moss throughout Europe.
To create this vehicle Mercedes spared no expense. The first step was to find a chassis. Instead of using a commercial vehicle, they used a chassis of a Mercedes 300 , which amended, strengthened and lengthened. On the chassis side and cross built a completely handmade bodywork , which is not even like any van at the time. The interior of the van was taken from a Mercedes 180, another saloon mid 50s where the similarities end with a production vehicle.
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Silver Arrows Alfred Neubauer stood on a flatbed where fixed strongly. It was necessary, since the Renntransporter – also known as Blue Wonder – was able to reach 170 km / h . His platform was lengthened to 6.75 meters in length to comfortably accommodate the 196 W . It was two meters wide and weighs 2,100 kg was less than some SUV Current Mercedes. However, some of its dimensions we call more attention, as its huge front overhang.
The vehicle recreated by Mercedes-Benz Classic in 90 is exposed in the museum of the brand.
The cabin protruded almost two meters in front of the front axle. Its height was only 1.75 meters, so the driving position should not be suitable for people of high stature. The best kept secret of Renntransporter was its engine. It was six-cylinder direct injection, taken from the Mercedes 300 SL . As you hear, this transport racing cars had engine supercar of the time. The three liters was capable of developing 192 hp at 5,500 rpm in this application.
All the power going to the rear axle through a manual gearbox four relations . Its fuel tank had a whopping 150 liters required for a range of at least 500 km with an average fuel consumption of 25 liters per 100 kilometers. Following the withdrawal of Mercedes of the competition after the terrible 24 Hours of Le Mans 1955, Blue Wonder was sent to the US where they spent time touring as a vehicle exhibition for new car brand .
In addition to his US tour, the Renntransporter served as a test vehicle for various systems subsequently implemented in Mercedes road cars. In 1967 the vehicle was scrapped under orders from Rudolf Uhlenhaut, then senior manager at the firm of Stuttgart. In the mid-90 Mercedes Classic rebuilt from scratch – using photographs as a basis – this particular vehicle and exhibited as the 50s wore on, but one of the Formula 1 over time
.
Today is the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart with 300 SLR above it. Mercedes pays homage in this way to a bit of its long history.
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Source: Mercedes
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